Wednesday, September 30, 2015

How to Renaissance

Ad Fontes: Currently "Trending" is collecting the material culture reminiscent of past decades. The pursuit of originality and authenticity is found by a return to the artistic expressions of previous eras. It's not uncommon for popular bands to cover songs from past artists, just as Eddie Vedder and Beyonce collaborated to perform Bob Marley's "Redemption Song." There is a validation that comes from modern artistic expression when previous forms of media are referenced.Brave New World: Although there are less places uncovered by exploration, a popular atitude of travel reverence, or the personal necessity of travel, has made the exotic of foreign world's just as popular today as it was during the renaissance. Food travel blogs, especially those that come with a bevvy of visual graphics are extremely popular. Social media accounts such as Tumblr and Pinterest display images of foreign places along with the sacredity of wanderlust - the same pursuit of finding a new place beyond the things of man.What a Piece of Work is Man: Social media has enabled minority groups to make their view point more accessible to the masses. This could be seen in the Egyptian rebellion of the Arab Spring when Facebook was used as a tool to gain international awareness, warn protestors of police dispatches, and coordinate protests. Similarly, in places like Baltimore or Ferguson where African American protestors feel they are being unfairly represented by the media they turn to protesting on social media platforms. That these protests have been recieving recent attention, despite the size of the groups they represent, shows an increase in concern over the welfare of the individual.Plough Boys and Bibles: Education is an indisputable right and most often there have been charitable movements to educate those who are either prevented or find themselves unable to access schooling. Recently, Emma Watsons' UN campaign #weforshe has been pushing to educate cloistered girls and women, in order to help them liberate themselves. Whereas education had been seen as a necessary process in order to establish oneself in a career, it is still seen as a basic right and the key to independence.Typographia Conservatrix: Recent material culture, most notably smartphones, are important in modern communication which has extended beyond enabling two way conversations. Smartphones are a necessary tool of connection and knowledge because they enable the use of apps, like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, where anyone who has access to such websites can have an account. This enables the possessor of a smartphone to be in communication with all contacts at once, and extending beyond that make contacts with new people.Sprezzatura: There is a certain uncultured attitude which is striven for in digital culture. When most of a person's identity is gleaned from how they display themselves on social media, there are unspoken rules about how a person can express themselves in a socially acceptable way. By speaking to a computer, essentially a non-responsive communication partner, people are speaking simultaneously to all people and to themselves. This duality creates an identity that is idealistic and carefully maintained.

1 comment:

I think todays perspective of education as a right is a direct consequence of the reformation. At time the plow boys were the under privileged, today we address our own underprivileged. It is time for women to gain education. The passion activists for female empowerment has a familiarity with the activists of the reformation.